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IWF WrestleMania 4
WrestleMania IV was the fourth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the International Wrestling Federation (IWF). It took place on March 27, 1988 at the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The main event was the finals of a 14-man tournament for the IWF Championship where Brady Savage defeated Kyle Johnson to win the vacant title. The main matches on the undercard were a 20-man battle royal won by Bad News Brown, Demolition (Ax and Smash) versus Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel) for the IWF Tag Team Championship, Brutus Beefcake versus The Honky Tonk Man for the IWF Intercontinental Championship and a 14-man tournament for the vacated IWF Championship. Event The event began with Gladys Knight singing a rendition of "America the Beautiful". The first match was a twenty-man battle royal with the winner to receive a large trophy. The participants were Bad News Brown, The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff and Boris Zhukov), The Heart Foundation (Bret Heart and Jim Furlong), The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair and Jim Brunzell), Danny Davis, George Steele, Harley Race, Hillbilly Jim, The Rougeau Brothers (Jacques and Raymond), The Young Stallions (Paul Roma and Jim Powers), The Junkyard Dog, Ken Patera, Ron Bass, Sam Houston, and Sika. After fourteen eliminations, the final six participants were Brown, Bret Heart, Roma, Race, Jacques Rougeau and JYD. Race hit a back body drop on Rougeau sending him over the top rope before JYD punched him over the top rope. Brown dumped out Roma as JYD was left to battle Heart and Brown. The duo double-teamed him and Heart caught JYD as Brown clotheslined JYD but JYD sidestepped and Heart was hit with the clothesline. JYD hit both men with several headbutts before they both decided to cooperate and they eliminated JYD. Heart decided that he and Brown would share the trophy but Brown betrayed him and hit him with a Ghetto Blaster and pounded on him before eliminating him over the top rope to win the battle royal. Brown was presented with the trophy, but Heart attacked him from behind and broke the trophy, thereby turning babyface. The fourteen-man tournament for the IWF Championship then began. In the first round, Kyle Johnson defeated Jim Duggan, Don Muraco defeated Dino Bravo by disqualification after Bravo pulled the referee in front of him, causing the ref to be hit by Muraco's finishing move, Brady Savage defeated Butch Reed, Greg Valentine defeated Ricky Steamboat, One Man Gang defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Rick Rude fought Jake Roberts to a time limit draw. The winners advanced to the quarterfinals while Rude and Roberts were both eliminated from the tournament. As former champions, Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan were given a bye and directly qualified for the quarters. In his pay-per-view (PPV) debut, The Ultimate Warrior faced Bobby Heenan's client, Hercules. Warrior snapped Hercules' chain and chopped him in the corner. Hercules tried to fight back and he hit three clotheslines on Warrior, who no-sold Hercules' clotheslines. Hercules fell to the mat each time during his unsuccessful clothesline attempts. The powerhouse Warrior countered a Hercules clothesline and hit a clothesline of his own. He pounded on Hercules outside the ring before reentering the ring where Warrior hit a forearm club. In the corner, Warrior hit him with ten punches but Hercules made a comeback with an inverted atomic drop. He hit a half nelson suplex on Warrior who got his shoulder up first, as the referee counted, giving Warrior the win. The quarterfinals started as Hulk Hogan took on André the Giant. During the match, Hogan hit André in front of referee Joey Marella while André hit Hogan with a chair. After both men hit each other with the chair, they both were disqualified by Marella and, as a result, they both were eliminated from the tournament. In the following matches, Kyle Johnson defeated Don Muraco and Brady Savage defeated Greg Valentine while One Man Gang received a bye in the quarter-finals, due to Rick Rude and Jake Roberts having wrestled to a time limit draw in the first round. Brutus Beefcake took on Jimmy Heart's client, IWF Intercontinental Champion The Honky Tonk Man for the title. The challenger connected with an atomic drop at the outset of the matchup. Beefcake hit Honky with a high knee, then missed an elbow drop on Honky, who took control with a second turnbuckle fist drop. He went for the Shake, Rattle & Roll on Beefcake but instead kneed him in the face. He went to the top rope to do some high-flying but Beefcake hooked the top rope and clotheslined Honky before applying a sleeper hold. Honky's manager Jimmy Heart hit the referee with his megaphone. The bell didn't ring but it was announced that Beefcake won by disqualification, which meant that Honky was still the champion because a title does not change hands via a DQ. The Islanders (Haku and Tama) and their manager Bobby Heenan took on British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid) and Koko B. Ware. Dynamite landed some quick hits on Tama who tried to shake hands with Dynamite but he catapulted Tama over the top rope. Aldrich tagged in but missed an elbow drop on Tama, allowing Tama to tag Haku. Smith hit a flying crossbody on Haku for a near-fall. Aldrich went for another pin but Haku kicked out again. Haku hit an arm wrench and tagged Tama. Tama grabbed Aldrich's arm and came out of it with a military press slam. Tama tagged in Haku who put Davey in a backbreaker but Aldrich flipped out of it and tagged in Koko. He hit Haku with a missile dropkick and a Frankensteiner. Dynamite tagged in and clotheslined Haku before ran into Haku's boot. Heenan tagged and stomped Dynamite before tagging in Tama. Tama hit a back body drop on Dynamite but missed a big splash. Tama tagged Haku while Dynamite tagged Koko. Heenan tagged in but was dropkicked in the corner by Koko, who the Islanders attacked. This prompted the Bulldogs to enter the ring. All six men brawled in the ring as the referee sent the Bulldogs to the corner while the Islanders picked up Heenan and threw him on top of Koko, leading to a pinfall win. The semi-final match of the IWF Championship tournament began featuring Brady Savage against One Man Gang while Kyle Johnson received a bye in the semi-finals due to the double disqualification of Hulk Hogan versus André the Giant. Savage hit a hotshot on OMG before the big OMG began his powerful moves. He overpowered Savage before he missed a big splash. He fell to the outside as Savage connected with a diving double axe handle, Savage then went for a scoop slam. OMG's manager, Slick, began taunting Savages's valet, Miss Elizabeth. She climbed to the apron to stay away from him. Slick jumped on the apron and handed OMG his cane. He nailed Savage with it and attempted to jab him as he lay on the mat but Savage kept rolling away. The referee saw OMG using his cane and disqualified him and awarded the match to Savage. As a result of the win, Savage advanced to the finals to face Kyle Johnson for the vacated IWF title. Before the final round, Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel) defended the IWF Tag Team Championship against Demolition (Ax and Smash. Smash nailed Martel before both teams began brawling in the ring. Strike Force hit Smash with a double back elbow for a near-fall. Santana applied an armbar on Ax before Martel tagged in and applied an armbar but Ax headbutted him and tagged in Smash. Santana tagged in but was caught in a bear hug and was clotheslined by Ax. He hit a big scoop slam and suplexed Santana. Ax tagged in but ducked off a low Irish whip. Santana hit a flying forearm smash on an interfering Smash and tagged in Martel who dropkicked both Ax and Smash a number of times and applied a Boston crab on Smash. Santana grabbed Mr. Fuji up onto the apron, allowing Ax to get his manager's cane. He nailed Martel with it as Smash covered Martel for the pin. As a result, Demolition became the new IWF Tag Team Champions. The main event was the tournament final for the vacant IWF Championship between Brady Savage and Kyle Johnson. Savage was tired due to his semifinal match against the big One Man Gang while Johnson took advantage of his freshness as he had received a bye in the semifinals. He dominated most of the match but in the end, Savage made a comeback and tried to hit a Savage Elbow on Johnson but Johnson moved out of the way. He applied a Million Dollar Dream on Savage. With the referee distracted due to interference by André the Giant, Hogan (who had been brought down mid-match by Miss Elizabeth on request by Savage to neutralize Andre's presence) took advantage and nailed DiBiase with a steel chair. Savage climbed up the top rope for a second elbow drop attempt and this time, he successfully hit Savage Elbow. He followed it up with a pinfall victory. He won the tournament and vacant IWF Championship. After the match, Hogan, Miss Elizabeth and Savage celebrated Savage's IWF Championship win. Results ; ; *'20 Man Battle Royal:' Bad News Brown defeated nineteen other participants by last eliminating Bret Heart. (10:40) **The other participants included were: Boris Zhukov, Brian Blair, Danny Davis, George Steele, Harley Race, Hillbilly Jim, Jacques Rougeau, Jim Brunzell, Jim Furlong, Jim Powers, The Junkyard Dog, Ken Patera, Nikolai Volkoff, Paul Roma, Raymond Rougeau, Ron Bass, Sam Houston, and Sika. *'First Round Championship Tournament Match:' Kyle Johnson (with Virgil and André the Giant) defeated Jim Duggan (4:54) ** Duggan went for his Three Point Stance finisher, but André tripped him. Dibiase hit him with a fistdrop and got the pin. *'First Round Championship Tournament Match:' Don Muraco (with Billy Graham) defeated Dino Bravo (with Frenchy Martin) (4:53) **Bravo was disqualified after he pulled the referee in front of a flying forearm attack from Muraco. *'First Round Championship Tournament Match': Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Heart) defeated Ricky Steamboat. (9:12) **Valentine pins Steamboat after rolling through Steamboat's flying crossbody block. *'First Round Championship Tournament Match': Brady Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Butch Reed (with Slick) (5:07) **Savage pins Reed after delivering the Flying Elbowdrop. *'First Round Championship Tournament Match': One Man Gang (with Slick) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (with Oliver Humperdink). (2:56) **One Man Gang wins via countout. *'First Round Championship Tournament Match': Rick Rude (with Bobby Heenan) versus Jake Roberts ends in a draw. (15:00) **The match ends in a 15 minute draw. *'Singles Match:' The Ultimate Warrior defeated Hercules (with Bobby Heenan) **Hercules pins himself as he fails to lift his shoulders during a backwards bridge. *'Quarter-Final Championship Tournament Match': Hulk Hogan versus André the Giant (with Kyle Johnson and Virgil) ends in a draw. (5:22) **Hogan & Andre were both disqualified after they traded chair shots. *'Quarter-Final Championship Tournament Match': Kyle Johnson defeated Don Muraco (with Superstar Billy Graham) (5:44) **Johnson pinned Muraco after hitting him with a flapjack into a hangman. *'Quarter-Final Championship Tournament Match': Brady Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Greg Valentine (with Jimmy Heart). (6:06) **Savage pins Valentine with a small package. *'IWF Intercontinental Championship Match': Brutus Beefcake defeated The Honky Tonk Man © (with Jimmy Heart) (6:30) **Honky Tonk Man was disqualified after Heart attacked the referee. The title did not change hands. *'Six-man Tag Team Match:' The Islanders (Haku and Tama) and Bobby Heenan defeated The British Bulldogs (Davey Boy Aldrich and Dynamite Kid) and Koko B. Ware *'Semi-Final Championship Tournament Match': Brady Savage Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated One Man Gang (with Slick). (4:05) **Savage won by disqualification after One Man Gang used Slick's cane. *'World Tag Team Championship Match': Demolition (Ax and Smash) (with Mr. Fuji) defeated Strike Force (Tito Santana and Rick Martel) © (12:33) **Demolition won after Ax hit Martel with Fuji's cane and Smash got the pin. *'Final Championship Tournament Match for the Vacant IWF Championship': Brady Savage (with Miss Elizabeth) defeated Kyle Johnson (with André the Giant). (9:27) **Savage pinned Johnson after Hulk Hogan interferred by hitting Johnson with a steel chair. Tournament bracket Other on-screen talent Also See *1988 IWF Championship Tournament *List of IWE pay-per-view events *WWF Event History *WrestleMania DVD Release External Links